Feather

Following that day, no one spoke out of Drey's whereabouts and Marius Pagan's orders. Brissia's return seemed to convince the agents that Davina would keep her promise. Still, that deputy head of headquarters was having another troubles.

"What?! I told you, don't go anywhere!" Davina raged on her call at someone on the other side.

"Really, I'm fine. Besides, my new friend won't have any clothes if I don't visit the tailor," said the girl with brown two-braided hair, turning her head when she saw a girl dressed in modern clothes passing beside her.

"Hey, Gierra! Here, try on my old clothes that I fixed the seams on!" the girl exclaimed while holding out two folded clothes in her left hand with a big smile. Gierra, who had just given Gabriel's files to a staff member, turned to her.

"Is that your new friend? What's her origin?"

"Hmm… I don't know. She told me she was from the future," Neyra said, taking the telephone away for a moment while responding to Gierra's words.

"Is it okay for me to use it, Neya?"

"Absolutely!" said the girl with a wide grin.

Davina sighed and hung up the phone. She stared at the gray sky outside the wide window of her room with a feeling of relief mixed with anxiety. Her gaze then fell on the table next to her with a wooden sign with names engraved on it: Drey Caramus.

Meanwhile, Gierra had no intention of walking into her room when she saw Gabriel handing Nicholas two sets of folded clothes. Her mouth was half open, seeing the fold of one of the suits that was opened by Nicholas.

"Isn't this the color you've been dying to try on?" Gierra gleefully whispered.

Nicholas appeared to ponder for a while. "You mentioned that this belonged to a former worker, Gabriel. Will the owner not look for it when he returns later?" he asked, carrying the gray pants and pale green shirt.

Gabriel shook his head. "He will never come back," he replied with a wry smile.

When Gabriel's words made Nicholas and Gierra wonder to themselves, the gloomy faces of the editorial staff seemed to answer their astonishment.

"Thank you. In that case, I'll give it a try," Nicholas said with a polite nod.

Gierra and Nicholas rode their bicycles with sling bags full of rolled newspapers while the snow was hidden behind pink clouds. Carrying a small piece of paper with instructions on where to deliver the news, Nicholas and Gierra navigated the crowds and old buildings surrounding them.

"Benjamin must be lucky to be able to gain Brissia's trust," said Gierra while pedaling her bicycle.

"What luck? He can't return to our world, abandoned by his father, even forgotten by Brissia in the first place," said Nicholas, furrowing his brows.

"That's the point! Gaining her trust without even being remembered!" Gierra paused with a faint smile, "Remember how Brissia didn't believe we tried to wake her up when the teaching assistant read out our grades?"

He fell silent as his brain brought the memory back. They then came to a halt in front of a house and placed a roll of newspaper in front of the door before continuing to pedal their bicycles down the street.

"Does the fact that Brissia is the only one who doesn't remember him mean we can't go back?"

Nicholas considered Gierra's question in silence. It wasn't until the image of a woman with long black hair appeared in his mind that he spoke.

"Maybe she's our only hope to get out of this place," Nicholas muttered.

At the same time but in a different place, five people in dark blue uniforms were sitting on a rooftop. On the far left, where the seagulls were fluttering their wings freely, the vast sea reflected a golden glow from the sky.

"You seriously don't remember who that guy was?" Debora asked, passing Hansen's can of drink to her.

Brissia shook her head, making Debora burst out laughing. However, Fayrl and Hansen both stared at her cynically before slapping her lightly.

"Does this serious subject make you laugh?" Hansen chirped.

"Ah, my mistake," said Debora, trying to suppress her laughter. "It's because he was attempting to grab Brissia's body when Harris had obviously grabbed your hand first."

Harris glanced at Brissia, while Brissia just drank the drink that Hansen gave her with a straight look.

"Given how much you forget each day, the effect seems to be more frequent than before," Hansen said to Brissia.

She grimaced with a pained expression, making Harris want to seize the drink from her hands. However, Brissia dodged and gave him a level look.

The air that wafted around them suddenly turned cold. When Debora's laughter stopped, the silence became clearer, reminding them of the argument between Brissia and Harris when they left the hut with the others.

"Anyway, did you ever ask Drey about the alternative cyre?" Debora asked, turning to Fayrl.

The girl took a deep breath and shook her head. "I should have just subdued them one by one to get them to speak up right away."

"What's the point of dreaming of peace if people like you wake up and choose violence?" Debora scorned. "Remember SURVIVE's motto, 'Survive and Preserve Peace'."

"We might as well ask Davina," Hansen suggested, earning a firm shake from Debora.

While they were busy arguing over the alternative informant, Brissia was deep in thought. When she took the key to the archives in Drey's room, she again 'accidentally' found an important file: documents of the deaths of SURVIVE agents over time, which mostly of the agents' death were caused by toxic powders.

The image of her roommate who had failed to shoot Hansen in the forest at that time flashed through her mind. Curiosity, anxiety, and suspicion came over her along with flashbacks of her touching the black powder twice.

"Brissia! Brissia Niverte!"

The five of them looked back in unison when an agent their age shouted Brissia's name.

"A son… of an aristocrat… forced his way in to meet you! He's in the lobby… now," said the man, panting with an agitated face.

"Huh? How did that aristocratic child know the way here? Was the car that had picked him up not covered?" Debora asked, turning to Harris and Brissia.

Harris looked up in surprise, seeing Brissia get up without a second thought.

"Wait, Brissie!"

His hand stretched out and was about to grab Brissia's hand. However, his fingers could only make contact with Brissia's fingertips because the girl was in a rush to descend the stairs.

When Fayrl and Debora had gotten up and rushed after Brissia, Harris was clenching his palms. Until Hansen tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to follow their friends, he finally got up.

Four agents with golden crows emblems stood facing Benjamin, who was standing by the door. The man's turquoise eyes widened, seeing a shoulder-length haired agent walking hastily toward him.

"Brissia!" Benjamin shouted, spontaneously stepping forward, causing the two agents in front of him to hold him back. "Your friends are in trouble!"

"Are you threatening us?" asked one of the agents holding Benjamin.

Benjamin shook his head quickly and looked at the agent with a frown. Harris pushed the other agents aside, signaling for Benjamin to continue speaking, while Fayrl stared coldly at the two special agents who were speechless while glancing doubtfully at her.

"Someone claiming to be from your district terrorized the residents of the Algor District by dropping building rubble onto the streets. However, Gierra and Nicholas were nowhere to be found," Benjamin said, looking at Harris and Brissia in turn.

Brissia took a deep breath. Harris saw her hands tighten and her pupils tremble. He turned to Debora, but she shook her head as if to remind him that SURVIVE still had their names blacklisted.

"What are you waiting for? Take your cloaks!"

Brissia, Harris, Debora, Fayrl, and Hansen stared in surprise at a special agent standing over Benjamin.

The special agent removed his hat, revealing a look filled with hurt and a look of anger on his face. Harris's eyes widened when he remembered the agent's face, even his words during the orientation month about where he came from, which was the Algor District.

"Go and save what you have to save. Don't worry about the permission," the agent said.

Hansen instantly nodded, followed by Fayrl, Debora, Harris, then Brissia.

***

Fifteen SURVIVE agents walked under a dark golden sky. They frequently questioned Benjamin further about the events that took place in the Algor District. Upon their arrival, they were greeted with a precise illustration of his narrative.

Ruins of buildings littered the streets. There weren't many people in sight, even if the agents caught them running somewhere.

"There's no trace of the explosion here, so let's split up according to plan," said one of them, to which all the agents nodded.

The agents split into groups of two to three people, exploring every corner of the Algor District; both to find the perpetrators and secure residents.

The search continued until the sky turned pale indigo. However, instead of the existence of victims and perpetrators, what they heard from radio was repeated news of their friends being injured.

"Carla! P-please… whoever is within a five hundred meters radius of the fountain… help her!"

The rustle of the HT hanging from Harris and Brissia's belts didn't lift the cloudy clouds on their faces. The strategy they had devised on the way collapsed in an instant.

"Did you get the report on Debora?" he asked Brissia.

When Brissia was about to look at her watch, she suddenly held her head, feeling an unusual throbbing. An image of a dark ruby-haired girl's face flashed in her head, but then the image vanished in an instant.

"Who is she?"

Harris looked down.

"It hurts," Harris said, causing Brissia and Benjamin to turn to look at him.

"We'll get through this together, Harris," Brissia said.

Harris stopped walking, turned to face Brissia. "Since when did you understand how I feel?"

Harris walked toward Brissia, making Brissia look at him warily.

"Do you know how tired it is to hide behind an excuse? Do you know the pain of being abandoned?"

"Harris, I don't think this is the right time to…."

Harris pushed Benjamin who was about to intercede for them and then approached Brissia until there was less than one meter left.

"Maybe you don't see it, but have you ever thought how painful it is to see your lover slowly forget everything around?" Harris said in a lower voice than before.

"What—we're not actually lovers, Harris! Haven't we already resolved that?" asked Brissia with a mix of surprise and annoyance.

"You two, don't get carried away. There are one or two people you have to find right now," Benjamin said, pushing Harris and Brissia away from each other.

Brissia and Harris were silent for a moment, avoiding eye contact.

"Benjamin's right. There's something more important than your fear: the victims and perpetrators we haven't found yet," Brissia said.

Harris narrowed his eyes for a moment before sighing.

"Then go."